


The Not-so-Mysterious Hair Straightener

by SneakyHufflepuff



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Post-Movie, and implied sex, captain 2, just silly flirting, samtasha?, we still need a ship name
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-06
Updated: 2014-04-06
Packaged: 2018-01-18 08:15:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1421104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SneakyHufflepuff/pseuds/SneakyHufflepuff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natasha wants to know why Sam had a hair straightener at his house. That mystery turns out to be way less exciting than Sam himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Not-so-Mysterious Hair Straightener

**Author's Note:**

> Fair warning: this is just unbeta'd fluff, posted here so I can find it again. Read at your own risk.
> 
> Part I is from a prompt from enigma731, Part II is from a prompt by allthefeelings.

**Part I**

Natasha hadn’t really thought about the straightener and the hair dryer in Wilson’s bathroom. She’d just been focused on becoming the impeccable and in control spy that the world expected to see. Curly hair was for Natasha, straightened hair was for Agent Romanoff. Her motivations had been simple: if she could style her hair into order, maybe her life would follow.

The next few days were a series of fights, first with HYDRA, then with Congress. It was only when she was sitting around a table with Sam and Steve, at a local Ethiopian restaurant, that she thought to ask about the straightener.

"Sam." She drew out his name in her usual flirtatious manner, enjoying the shudder that went through his body at the single syllable. "Is there any reason you have a hair straightener and a hair dryer at your place?"

Sam opened his mouth and closed it again, an obvious tell. “No reason,” he said, attempting to shrug off the question.

She leant forward, catching his eyes. “Really?”

"Why, planning on staying the night any time soon?" He answered, holding her gaze.

The innuendo was obviously meant to distract, and Natasha let herself be distracted by Sam’s wide grin. God, but Sam Wilson was an attractive man. 

Steve studied his hands, having given up on expecting any sort of propriety from his friends.

Natasha took a sip from her glass, watching Sam watch her mouth. She took her time in answering. Wresting the secret of the hair straightener from him wouldn’t be much of a challenge, but it could be interesting.

"Maybe," she answered, knowing that one word would conjure up a painful amount of possibilities for Sam.

He and Cap were running off to Europe to begin their HYDRA hunt in a matter of days, but she might as well have a little fun while they were still in town gathering intel. And she could take some seriously fun and sweaty breaks with Sam in between planning a different hunt of her own. 

Sam winked at her and laughed, diffusing the tension. Natasha laughed as well, happy to be alive, despite everything ugly that had come to light in the past few days, the last few decades. Maybe a little chaos was a good thing.

\---

**Part II**

_Four Days Later_

Natasha moaned in appreciation as she finished the first of three blueberry pancakes. They had just the right amount of maple syrup drizzled over them. The texture, taste, everything was perfect. Sam must have a secret ingredient or something. Of course, part of the reason they tasted so good was all the calories she had burned last night. And this morning. Who needed super soldiers when there were para-troopers around? 

Her hair was unstraightened, and she hadn’t bothered with makeup, because she was going to spend the rest of her day in front of a computer, piecing together the pieces of her plan to destroy the Red Room. Also, the hair straightener had gone missing the second day she stayed over. Sam claimed he knew nothing about it, but Natasha knew he was trying to keep the mystery of the hair straightener from her, that and he preferred her hair wavy. The straightened hair was the only hair style she had ever worn that no one had complimented her on, for some reason.

"Satisfied, Romanoff?" Sam asked, smugly from the doorway of his kitchen.

His words drew her out of her thoughts, as well as his blue boxers and the flour-streaked tank that was at least a size too small. 

"I’m good," she answered, honestly. "In fact, I should probably get going."

She had a lot of digital ground to cover before she could travel to Europe. She got up from her chair, grabbing her black leather jacket. The blueberry pancakes were amazing, but she had a schedule to keep, and she was already thirty minutes behind thanks to lazy morning in bed.

Sam looked down for a second, obviously uncertain of what to say next.

"Steve and I are leaving today," he said, keeping his tone light.

The underlying subtext was clear. He wanted to know what the status of their relationship was. Natasha didn’t think a few nights, as fun as there were, constituted a relationship, but she had discovered even hotshots sometimes got clingy.

"Well, you boys have fun," Natasha said blithely. _No relationship here_.

Natasha bent down to take another bite pancakes for the road, trying to nail down the secret ingredient. From the corner of her eye she could Sam wince a little in disappointment, then grin again. Good, he was too practical to be weighed down by a minor rejection.

"Well, at least you never figured out why I had that hair straightener."

Natasha laughed, and it wasn’t a particularly nice laugh. “Sam, I’m the best spy in the world. The hair straightener was originally your ex-girlfriend’s. Her name is Tracey and she lives in Seattle. Just got engaged last month, which you’d know if you were still friends with her on Facebook. You didn’t throw it out, at first because you wanted to keep everything of hers after the breakup, later because your little sister sometimes comes and visits. You think she’s here because of deep interest in public policy, but she actually has a girlfriend in Dupont Circle. She’s afraid of introducing her to you because the girlfriend is in the IRS. Not that exciting of a secret, really.”

Natasha shrugged on her jacket, smirking in triumph.

"The IRS?" Sam exclaimed, outraged.

Then threw his head back and laughed. The midday light played over his features, and Natasha committed the moment to memory.

“Damn, Romanoff, I shouldn’t have underestimated you.”

"Also?" Natasha licked her lips, tasting the last of the maple syrup. "Your secret ingredient in the blueberry pancakes? Avocado."

Sam watched her leave, slack-jawed. Natasha added a little sway to her walk, just to see the awe in his eyes kick up a notch. They might not be in a relationship, but you could never tell how the future would play out.


End file.
